TCOOP 2014: 5typesofmeat duels to a win in Event #41, $215 PL Omaha (Turbo, Heads-Up, Super-Knockout)

This year’s 50-event TCOOP schedule included only two heads-up tournaments. The first of those, a $215 NLHE tourney, was won last week by the Ukraine’s Ati Jon. For those whose taste for action either wasn’t satisfied there or ran toward the more exotic, today’s Event #41 was the perfect prescription.

A $215 Pot-Limit Omaha event, this tournament also featured a Super-Knockout payout structure that saw $103 from each player’s buy-in serve as a bounty on his or her head. So even those who didn’t make it the money could still earn back their investment if they could win just two matches. That was enticing enough to attract 936 players, good for a $192,816 prize pool. Those without a bye in the first round would need to win 10 consecutive matches to earn the scheduled top prize of $19,282.24.

The tournament saw deep runs from some familiar names. Making it to the quarterfinals before bowing out were both Slovenia’s JTDStreet, who won the $27 heads-up PLO event during SCOOP 2013, and Triple COOP winner Shawn “buck21” Buchanan. They finished 8th and 7th, respectively. The semifinal matchups were set at 5:48 p.m. ET when Tim “tamiam122” Cramer, who finished in 7th place just a few days ago in Event #32, busted in 5th place ($2,988.64).

Semifinal: 5typesofmeat vs. justnl2

The first semifinal table in Event #41 featured the United Kingdom’s 5typesofmeat against Greece’s justnl2. 5typesofmeat’s path from Round 5 to the semis included victories over WushuTM, muckherenow, iacog4, and skattefar. justnl2, meanwhile, had to get past MOMisGAY, XXXbembaXXX, raconteur, and JTDStreet.

justnl2 took a small lead on the first hand and held on to it for four more, but on Hand #6 5typesofmeat earned a 10-big-blind lead after both players flopped top pair on a 6♥ 2♠ A♣ board. The turn and river came J♦ 10♣ and 5typesofmeat’s A♦ Q♣ J♥ 8♣ dodged a lot of outs against the Greek player’s A♠ 5♣ 4♦ 3♠ for the 1,250-chip pot.

The two players traded the lead back and forth for three hands before 5typesofmeat won a 1,500-chip pot on Hand #9, flopping trips kings with A♦ K♦ 5♣ 2♠ and rivering kings full of deuces. 5typesofmeat’s new lead would rise and fall but never disappear entirely. Eight of the next 11 pots went to the player from the U.K. before justnl2 won this pot on Hand #21 to move back to within seven big blinds of the lead:

All of a sudden thing were looking promising for justnl2. And on the very next hand they probably looked even brighter, as the Greek player looked down at A♦ A♣ 10♠ 4♣ in the big blind. justnl2 made it three bets for 450 after 5typesofmeat raised to 150 on the button – and then 5typesofmeat, after some thought, came in for a fourth bet of 1,350. justnl2 didn’t take too long to five-bet 4,050 and then call off the last 745 chips after 5typesofmeat re-raised all-in with A♥ A♠ 9♠ 7♠ . justnl2 held the slight edge and maintained it after picking up a smaller pair and straight draw on the 2♦ 7♥ 3♦ flop. The Q♠ was a blank, but the 9♥ on the river gave 5typesofmeat two pair, nines and sevens. The 9,590 chips in the pot that had looked almost certain to be split instead went to 5typesofmeat’s stack, and justnl2 ended the tournament in 4th place ($5,784.48).

Semifinal: kookosh vs. allucan3at

The other semifinal table featured Finland’s kookosh against the Netherlands’ allucan3at. En route from Round 5 to the semifinals, kookosh defeated eidur888, KristinaJe, kntna, and Shawn “buck21” Buchanan. allucan3at , meanwhile, defeated terror777727, N@T@L@T, King Suckout, and tamiam122.

kookosh came out firing on the first hand of the match against allucan3at. The Finnish player raised to 125 on the button and then bet roughly 60 percent of the pot when checked to on the 10♣ 8♠ 5♠ flop, the J♣ turn, and the 10♦ river. Allucan3at check-called each of the bets and showed Q♥ Q♦ J♠ 4♣ for a pair of queens, which beat kookosh’s busted draws with A♦ K♠ Q♠ 4♥ for the 2,750-chip pot.

allucan3at kept up the pressure over the next 14 hands and was able to expand the lead to a 6,950-3,050 margin. Then kookosh took over, winning the next 10 pots consecutively, including one worth 1,650 chips on Hand #22 after flopping middle set out of position with J♣ 9♠ 5♣ 5♥ . That gave kookosh a lead of about eight big blinds, which lasted 10 hands, after which allucan3at moved back ahead by about 1,800 chips after flopping the nut straight with Q♣ J♣ 9♥ 2♣ .

kookosh was able to get a little closer with a 2,000-chip pot on Hand #28, but it was this doozy on Hand #30 that turned everything upside down:

Back to the wall now, allucan3at ramped up the aggression factor and won three of the next four pots. The Dutch player was willing to press the issue again on Hand #36 with Q♠ J♦ 9♣ 8♠ , first three-betting and then five-betting all-in before the flop, and ended up showing down against kookosh’s A♠ A♥ 4♥ 2♦ . The 4♠ 2♥ K♥ flop was bad news, and by the 5♦ turn allucan3at was drawing dead. The Q♣ came to make the Dutch player the tournament’s 3rd place finisher ($5,784.48).

Final: 5typesofmeat vs. kookosh

As the first hand of the final got going, 5typesofmeat asked kookosh if the Finn would be willing to make a deal. “Yes,” kookosh replied. Within seconds of getting the tournament paused the two had agreed to split the money down the middle with $1,500 left on the table for the winner. With each now guaranteed $13,711.52, the game resumed.

There was some back and forth over the first 11 hands of the match but neither player was able to pull away. In fact, Hand #12 began with both players within a single 30-chip small blind of one another. That made for a lot of chips in the middle of the table by the river when they both flopped strong hands:

That left kookosh with just 305 chips, all of which went in the middle with 10♦ 9♣ 9♥ 7♠ on the next hand. That won out over 5typesofmeat’s 7♣ 5♣ 5♠ 2♠ on a 4♣ 2♣ 3♠ 3♥ 3♣ on Hand #13 for a lifeline back into the match. 5typesofmeat won the next pot to leave kookosh with 490 chips, and those all went in the middle as the third bet on Hand #14 with Q♥ 7♦ 5♠ 2♠ . 5typesofmeat called with 9♦ 9♠ 3♠ 2♦ and added a flush draw on the 8♥ 4♦ 5♦ flop, and then top set on the 9♣ turn. kookosh could still catch any non-diamond seven for a straight to stay alive, but instead the deck delivered the 9♥ on the river to give 5typesofmeat four of a kind and bring the tournament to a close.

The $13,711.52 share of the heads-up deal was a breakthrough for kookosh, whose previous best prize here at PokerStars was $1,971. Meanwhile the extra $1,500 on the table gave 5typesofmeat a total prize of $15,211.52. That’s the eighth-largest score of the U.K. player’s career and a new personal TCOOP best, topping a 26th-place finish worth just over $6,200 in last year’s TCOOP Main Event. Congratulations to both players for making it through to the final and to 5typesofmeat for earning a first career COOP title!

TCOOP-41: $215 Pot-Limit Omaha (Turbo, Heads-Up, Super-Knockout)
Entrants: 936
Prize pool: $192,816 ($96,408 regular, $96,408 bounty)
Places paid: 128

1. 5typesofmeat (United Kingdom) $15,211.52* + 11 KOs
2. kookosh (Finland) $13,711.52* + 8 KOs
3. allucan3at (Netherlands) $5,784.48 + 8 KOs
4. justnl2 (Greece) $5,784.48 + 8 KOs
* – denotes results of a heads-up deal

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.